A critical component of a secure enterprise Wireless LAN (WLAN) is a Wireless Intrusion Detection System (WIDS). A WIDS is necessary for enterprises that have WLANs, as well as those that want to limit or prohibit the use of WLANs in the enterprise.
WIDS at a Glance
Today's WIDSs monitor WLANs and provide:
- Visibility into suspicious WLAN activity.
- Identification of rogue Access Points (APs) and wireless clients.
- Identification and mitigation of security threats.
- Wireless device location services.
- The ability to report on regulatory compliance.
Most WIDSs also include functionality to monitor and report on WLAN performance, and suggest appropriate measures to improve it. Additionally, these systems can proactively identify and prevent intrusions through the WLAN.
A properly configured WIDS monitors the enterprise air space 24x7 on all WLAN frequencies (e.g. 802.11a/b/g in the 2.4 and 5GHz spectrums) with a network of wireless monitors connected to a central server. The WIDS will alert IT staff when a security threat...
